


Burning like the sun

by silveronthetree



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Case Fic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveronthetree/pseuds/silveronthetree
Summary: AU. Dick returns to his job in Detroit. What happens when Kory drops by his apartment and gets mixed up in the case he's investigating?
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Burning like the sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [desastrista](https://archiveofourown.org/users/desastrista/gifts).



> Desastrista, I hope you enjoy this fic. I couldn't resist the opportunity to write a little case fic for your prompt.
> 
> This story is set in a possible future for Titans and it doesn't refer to any of the developments in Season 2. I also decided to bring Amy Rohrbach, because I was sad that they killed her off in the show, particularly as she was one of my favourite characters from the Nightwing comics. 
> 
> I took some license with police procedure in the story, so anything too improbable should be blamed on Dick Grayson's fondness for breaking the rules and superheroing on the side and also comics ;)

Dick drops his bag off his shoulder in the middle of the entrance way, where it lands with a squelchy thump, and engages the locks on the door of his apartment behind him. He's finally out of the rain. Getting caught in a downpour on his way home had been the cap of an already horrible day. It isn't officially Detroit's rainiest month, but it feels like it right now.

His apartment is a sterile space, made worse when it's empty like today. Rachel's staying over with Gar and some other new friends this week, and he's alone here. He hates its cold white walls and grey fittings at the best of times, but today it’s all too similar to the hospitals he’s been in and out of all day.

He pushes the wet hair out of his eyes and sighs. He may not like it but he's glad to be here. The place is full of light, despite the grey sky outside. It's also warm and dry and it's as close to a home as he currently has.

He starts to pull off his wet clothing as he walks further into the apartment, first he bends down to untie his boots. Luckily, they're very waterproof, so his socks and feet are still dry. His phone beeps and he pulls it out to check. It's a text about the case from Amy Rohrbach, who’s still at the station writing up reports.

The horrible day is a result of the case he’s investigating. Too many people have been attacked and they're lying comatose in the hospital and he has no idea if they’ll ever pull through. Dick was pulled onto the case for the third attack. But things have been escalating. As of today, five hotels in the Detroit area have been hit this fall. It's a puzzle. Someone stays at the hotel, and then never wakes up the next morning. They aren't dead, but comatose, and no one can find a cause. So far nine people have been affected. This was the worst; three men were found in a single hotel this morning.

They thought it was drug related at first, but there’s nothing new out on the streets and the blood work is coming back clear for all known drugs. Only one person was affected at each hotel at first, and it took a while to come to the Detroit police’s notice but the last time there were two cases and now it is three. There’s definite escalation. They’re looking for unknown substances now, but the forensic department is so stretched it could be weeks before they could get a match. He’s frustrated. He could run it himself easily and get an answer. But Dick Grayson doesn’t have access to the blood samples and even if he does take them to one of Bruce’s labs, they’ll never be able to prosecute based on it.

Amy had tried to give him a pep talk – it’s only her second full case back after recovering from her beating – but even she can’t find much positive to say. He looks at the text.

Rohrbach: May have a lead. One woke briefly, last thing remembered is red-headed woman. No red-heads on the guest list or staff. 

It could be nothing. Dick knows that red hair isn’t that rare, especially now that everyone is dyeing their hair. But it’s more than they had before.

Me: Want me to come in? 

Rohrbach: Rest is necessary, Grayson. It can wait until tomorrow. 

He shuts down his phone and sticks it between his teeth as he finishes with his laces and pulls off his boots. It's easy enough to balance as he stands on each foot in turn to pull off his boots. Rachel keeps suggesting they put a chair near the entrance to make it easier for her but there isn't really enough space. Next, his jacket and hat get tossed towards the coat rack. Then his sweater and undershirt. He can't decide if he wants a hot shower, or a hot drink first. He decides to go with both, he'll take a hot drink into the shower and he heads into the kitchen pulling off his belt and unbuttoning his jeans as he goes. He's just pulling his soggy jeans and underwear down to his hips, when a voice says, "Hello, Dick.”

His hand reaches for a weapon that isn't there, and he's turned to face the intruder before he recognises the voice. It's Kory.

"How did you get in?" he snaps, feeling completely wrong-footed. This place is supposed to be completely secure.

She's sitting at the kitchen counter with a glass of wine that's a third full in one hand, and her phone on the counter top in front of her. She looks comfortable and he has to wonder if he even owns wine. He hastily pulls up his pants and starts to button them.

He doesn't get very far with the buttons before Kory says, "There's no need to do that for my sake. It's a nice view."

Dick blinks and leaves off his buttoning. He hasn't seen Kory for months. Not since they'd rescued Rachel from Trigon. She'd left immediately after and he'd been left with the kids. He’d wished he’d known where she'd gone. He could've used her support.

He stares at her, and her red, red hair, and thinks about the text he'd just received. Her hair's longer than when he’s last seen it and he can see it almost crackling with life. It must be a coincidence. Right? A red-headed woman with unknown powers in town, just when one is mentioned in his case.

Kory smiles at him, but it doesn't quite make her eyes. She looks worried. "Rachel let me in, before she left."

Dick frowns. Rachel was supposed to have left for Gar's straight from school. She shouldn't have been back. "Did she say why she came back?"

Kory shrugs. It’s a very attractive shrug. "She wanted to let me in. She thought you might be able to help me."

"Help you how?" Kory’s the independent type and she hasn’t been in contact for a while.

“I woke up in my hotel, and the man I’d slept with last night wouldn’t wake up," Kory tells him. "He was alive, but…” She trails off, sounding upset. Dick wonders how close she was to the man and stifles an inappropriate pang of what can’t be jealousy. “I left, called in a tip to the ambulance, but I was hoping you could check on him.”

“Were you at the Grand?” Dick asks. He hadn’t heard anything about any of the victims having companions.

“No,” she says blankly. “Why? I was at the Hotel Bristol.”

“Just a case I’m working on,” Dick says dismissively. “What was his name?”

She shrugs. “I don’t remember. I’m not sure he ever told me.” Well, that answers his question about the closeness. He must make a face because she adds, “We were in his room. Room 602, if that helps.”

He nods and asks her for a description. The description doesn’t fit any of the victims, and none of them had been at the Hotel Bristol. He can’t stop himself yawning as he asks, “How long have you been in town?”

“A few weeks,” Kory admits. “I’ve been meeting Rachel. She's been worried.” Dick suppresses his twinge of hurt. Rachel hadn't mentioned that. He hadn't even known Rachel was worried about anything. 

Dick sighs. He needs to find out more. If he reports this, he'll be obliged to take Kory in for questioning and that's something he should avoid. Besides, it's a tenuous clue. Dick, Kory and Rachel are far too connected to each other. Things could get bad and Rachel especially can’t take the additional scrutiny it would bring. He’s the only one with any chance to crack this. How much should he tell Kory?

"It wasn't something you might've done? Inadvertently or unconsciously, maybe…?" Dick's voice trails off sleepily as he checks with her.

Kory rolls her eyes. "I know what I’m capable of. This wasn't me."

Dick tries to swallow another yawn as he thinks.

"You should sleep," Kory says. "This can wait until tomorrow." Although she still looks worried. "Rachel says you’ve been burning the candle at both ends." She stands up and gathers her bag and shoes. "I’ll see you in the morning."

She looks like she’s leaving, but the worry hasn't left her face. “Stay,” Dick finds himself saying. “There’s a guest room." He shakes his head violently in a vain attempt to wake himself up. "Give me a minute and I’ll hack the hospital system and find out how he's doing for you."

Getting into the hotel records and cross referencing them with the hospital records takes an embarrassingly long time because he’s too tired and sloppy, but he eventually discovers her guy – who is named Michael Johns – is alive but was still unconscious when he was admitted.

When he tells her this, she grins brightly at him for the first time since she arrived. It's a lovely smile, and it gives him the swooping feeling in his belly that her genuine smiles always do. He wonders if he is a fool to trust her.

“Oh, I’m glad. He knew what to do with his hands, and I would be sad if he was dead.”

Dick nods. He half wonders what she’d say about his hands. "I'm going to crash now. Help yourself to anything you need."

Dick shows her to the guest room next to Rachel’s and then takes a quick shower. It’s eleven hours until he next has to be in work and he's going to take advantage of every single one of them. He's asleep as soon his head hits his pillow.

  
Dick wakes up nine hours later, feeling unsettled. When he shuffles into the kitchen to find coffee and cereal, Kory’s already there. He’d think she hadn’t moved since he’d seen her last night, if she weren’t wearing different clothes, and the wine glass hasn't been put away, and replaced by a plate of toast.

“Hey,” he greets her. “Didn’t find the coffee machine?”

“I didn’t look.” Kory pushes back her hair.

He goes about the business of making coffee and when he hands her a cup of the good coffee, he appreciates the blissful expression on her face as she takes her first sip. "I’ll see what I can find out about your guy,” he says. “You can stay here if you need."

She nods, and they sit and drink their coffee in silence, until Dick has to leave for his shift. It isn’t as awkward as it could be.

He pulls out all the overnight reports when he gets to work. There's nothing about the red-headed woman mentioned by the witness that couldn't be Kory. But there's nothing to say it is. He isn't at the stage of taking round her picture. She certainly isn't the only red-headed woman in Detroit.

"You think we should see if there are any other cases?" he asks Amy, who's sitting at the desk across from him, frowning at her computer.

"Why?" She narrows her eyes. "Do you know something?" Dick half wishes she weren't so good at her job.

"Just a hunch," Dick lies. "The symptoms might not be totally obvious."

They spend the morning investigating and turn up two potential new cases and yes, one of them is Kory's man and the symptoms match. He was admitted to hospital in the late afternoon and all the other victims had displayed symptoms in the morning. Dick wonders if that is significant.

After hours of security footage, there's no evidence that Kory’s been anywhere else. And there’s no further details about the red-headed woman.

Should he ask her directly? He picks up his cell phone, and then puts it down again immediately. Instead he texts Rachel, and she's having fun with her friends. She asks if he's seen Kory and he gives a vague answer. It's all so complicated.

Kory isn't at his house that evening when he goes home, but she calls him and suggests a drink, now that he's more awake. She wants to meet the new hotel she’s checked into, and he goes. They start in the bar, but head to her room when it becomes too noisy to talk. He updates her on Michael but doesn’t mention the rest of the case.

They end up talking late into the night. They spend a long time talking about how Rachel is doing, and why she's worried about Dick. He shouldn't be surprised that she thinks he works too much, what with the day job and the night job. He realises he's barely hung out with Rachel outside training for months, and when they do spend time together, he's exhausted. He promises Kory that he'll do better, and she threatens to kick his ass if he doesn't.

"Rachel needs you," she tells him. He doesn't say that she needs Kory too. He's the one who's officially responsible for her, and he needs to do a better job of it. Rachel's such a great kid, she deserves more of his attention. "She's already lost too many parental figures."

They end up catching up on everything they've been doing since they last met and the doings of the rest of the Titans. It feels easy as if they haven't been apart. He won’t sleep with her this time, not while she might be involved in his investigation, but when Kory doesn’t make a move, he’s a little disappointed. He must fall asleep at some point during their conversation, as he wakes in the morning still in his clothes, with Kory fast asleep next to him on the bed. He desperately wants to roll over and kiss her awake, but that isn't what their relationship is right now. He slips out of the room quietly, leaving her to rest.

  
At his desk, Dick stares at the notes from the case interviews. He's been over them so many times. He’s put together a series of interviews and he can see a hint of a pattern. The only thing the victims have in common is that they're all from out of town and they were all here to work. There’s an oil executive, marine biologist, a food manufacturer, a blogger, someone here for an agricultural conference and a pharmaceutical. Nothing about their backgrounds, age profile, or interests are in common. The victims were almost all accompanied by work colleagues, not family. He pulls out the interview transcripts that are bothering him.

> "He was the headline speaker, he was there to outline the company’s vision for the next ten years. I was a bit surprised he that didn’t cover the slides I’d prepared for him, but what he said - it was so exciting! It sounded so innovative, and everyone said that it had a solidly researched background. He’s usually a bit staid, but we really needed a shake-up of our vision."

> "It was a crazy idea. It’ll never fly with our investors. Luckily, we could wave it off as the product of an ill man. I don’t know what he was thinking presenting that. That collapse was a blessing in disguise."

> "He doesn't usually go off script when he does these events, so that was a minor drama. It seemed to go down okay, so I suppose it was the right call."

There's a hint of a pattern there, but before he starts re-interviewing people, he wants to look at the social media. Half the witnesses have left the state now that their trips are over. He needs something more concrete, before he follows up on such a resource heavy lead.

The social media buzz gives him exactly the information he'd anticipated. The victims had all been in Detroit to speak publicly at professional events. And he finds indications that almost every one of them proposed unusually radical things during their speech. It looks as if a high proportion of them had succeeded in getting backing for the proposals, and even securing financial backing. This is more than just a mysterious coma. There’s a major behavioural change preceding it for them all. He can see why they missed it earlier in their investigation. The witnesses all assumed it was the result of whatever illness caused the coma, but Dick was starting to think it was the other way around. Were they being blackmailed? Or is it something more sinister like mind control?

Shortly after, they get news of five people hurt across two hotels, including the first female victim. One of the hotels is the one in which he met Kory, and his heart sinks when he realises that. When he explains this to Amy, she rolls her eyes and tells him that she'll take the interviews at that hotel and he should head to the other hotel. She seems to think he gets a lot more action than he actually does, and they aren't so close that he'll fill in the details.

They received word that the condition of the first victim is deteriorating. The hospital staff aren't sure if he can be stabilised. It's put the pressure on them, and now their boss is demanding results fast. Their main role is to question witnesses. Where possible they keep each other updated. It’s a change from trawling through security camera footage. Amy's first interview yields the news that the victim sent a text to one of his colleagues about a hot red-head, just before he collapsed.

Seeing as pretty much anyone would describe Kory as a "hot red-head" and she's staying in the hotel, she gets called for an interview. Dick's relieved when he sees the timestamp of the message, right in the middle of his chat with Kory. They were together for the entire time, so she can't be directly responsible. That eases his mind, because he doesn’t want this to be connected with Kory. He knows he tends to believe the best about people he's close to, and he realises that Kory fits into that category despite the recent distance between them. He’s going to have to start at the beginning, because he has no idea who is doing this.

The other hotel is full of people attending a biological sciences academic conference, Dick has to interview some very confused and hungover people about the three victims. “Can't you hurry up with this,” one of them snaps. “You’ll make us miss the keynote. That’s the whole reason I’m here.”

In one interview, he gets more information that supports his theory. The victim's roommate tells him, “He’s an idealist really. I was a bit confused that he’d changed things from the practice run through we had last week, but everyone rewrites talks at the last minute, and the data seemed good. A bit of a departure from normal, but if they can verify it – it’ll be revolutionary.”

“She seemed a bit off, but I assumed it was just nerves. It’s a big event,” a young woman says about another victim with a shrug. “Nerves never really go away.”

“Do you have a copy of the slides or a recording of the presentation?” Dick asks her.

“Sure,” she says, with a dubious look at him. She doesn’t seem to think he’ll understand the topic. “If you think it could help, it’s all available online.” She fishes about in her bag, and eventually produces a flyer, which she hands to him. “The schedule and the links are all here. They filmed a good number of the talks.”

Dick spends the rest of the day going through the content of as many of the speeches, presentations and workshops given by the victims as he can acesss, not just the ones from today. The fact that they were all in town for conferences hadn’t seemed important before. He skips though most of the marine biology conference. There’s more information on seaweed and phytoplankton than he cares to learn about.

He focuses on what it all adds up to. He’s starting to see a common agenda. Every change the victims made to the speeches they’ve made will have a significant positive environmental impact.

He takes a swig of his cold coffee, as he stares blankly towards his notes mulling it all over. And then it hits. Dick drops his head to the desk, and curses, “Goddammit.”

There’s the connection. Environmental causes, mind control, a red-head - it’s obviously Poison Ivy.

He checks in with Bruce and finds out she’s been out of Arkham for the last few months. There's plenty of time for her to have planned this and then been around to control the actions of all these people. He wishes Bruce would keep him informed of these things.

He scrolls past Amy’s phone number and instead calls up Kory and explains what he’s just found out. Kory might still be a suspect in his colleagues' eyes, but this is more Titans business than police business. The Detroit police aren't equipped to deal with a meta like Ivy. He trusts Kory in this sort of situation. Kory offers to help him verify his theory. All he needs to do is break into the path lab and steals the victim’s blood samples.

The break in goes surprisingly smoothly, and they get exactly what they're looking for. And the test results from the blood samples confirm his theory. They all contain one of Ivy’s pollens. It’s a newer version than he’s seen before.

He spends a long time explaining who Ivy is and what her motivation might be. It’s worth it, as Kory is the one who works out where Ivy’s base is. Dick's exhausted all his resources for tracking her down.

Kory frowns. “You say that she turns wasteland into green? Well, we’ve driven past many places like that.”

After a few false starts they pinpoint her. They find a new patch of green that’s appeared on the traffic maps between one week and the next. Dick doesn’t tell Amy what he’s found or where he’s going. Ivy is a metahuman. He needs Nightwing for this, not Detective Grayson.

  
Kory grins fiercely at Dick. "We'll stop this Poison Ivy together." She marches up to the entrance to the house they'd pinpointed. It used to be a beautiful Victorian house, but now it’s crumbling, overgrown with creepers and vines. The elegant trees that once lined the street look better suited to a wilderness. He looks around at the green that flows gradually away from the house, branch by branch, creeper by creeper, until it meets the overwhelming grey of the desolate area surrounding it.

The green stands out remarkably, and now they’re here, Dick wonders why no one's investigated before. But then he remembers Ivy can transform a place in the space of days when she chooses.

Kory moves to push away the vines concealing the doorway. The door itself is long gone.

"Wait," Dick says. "She'll sense it. We need to surprise her."

Kory rolls her eyes. "Look down." He notices the carpet of roots and moss they're walking on, and flushes. He should be more aware of his environment, but something about the way this case developed has him off his game. Kory continues, "She’ll already know someone’s here."

Dick nods. As they go through the door, he pulls on his domino mask, and a filter for his mouth and nose and drops his coat on the floor. There’s no need for stealth now. He’d offered Kory a spare filter, but she’d refused point blank, telling him it was unnecessary. He’s carrying it with him just in case. The wooden floorboards are splintered in places and the earth below is visible, churned up and creating hummocks.

Thee house is more like an out of control greenhouse. They make their way through rooms where the greenery outside has hidden every recognisable feature. They pass the bones of someone in a police uniform. Plant fronds and tendrils are bursting through every fenestra of the skull, and Dick realises what might’ve happened to the last person investigating. He points it out to Kory, and her eyes narrow. “This Poison Ivy is more dangerous than you mentioned.”

Dick blinks. He isn’t sure what makes a single skeleton worse than mind control, that’s left its victims dying slowly by degrees, and everything else he told Kory that Ivy has done over the years. But then he spots what Kory is staring at. Dozens more fragments of bones and skulls scattered through the greenery. He tries to count skulls and gets lost somewhere between fifteen and twenty. There are so many fragments.

This isn’t Ivy’s usual MO, and he suddenly wishes he also had Batman or the other Titans with him. “She usually doesn’t kill on this scale.”

“Maybe we should rethink the talking to her part of the plan,” Kory says dryly.

They walk through the last doorway into what used to the garden of the house, they'd planned ahead and Kory moves left, and he goes right. If he thought they’d come through a greenhouse, this is like a full jungle. A strange mix of temperate and tropical plants. Ivy is standing in the centre, her hands on her hips, and an enraged look on her face.

“Why are you trespassing?”

“We’re here to stop you hurting anyone else, Ivy,” Dick says, it’s a little muffled by the filter, but she seems to understand.

Ivy whips around and stares at Kory, and then back to him, “I’m not hurting anyone. She gestures to the empty space around her. "It is just me and my children. Who are you people?”

“I’m here because people thought I was responsible for all the people you hurt,” Kory says. “And I don’t care for that.” She starts to glow orange.

Ivy pulls her vines around her, protectively. “And you, with the mask. Why are you here?”

“Don’t you recognise me from Gotham, Ivy?” Dick says and flips towards her, over a sprawling bush of holly.

“Should I?” Ivy says, feigning boredom. Although he can see from the twitches of the plants that she isn’t as unconcerned as she pretends to be.

He throws one of his modified throwing stars towards Ivy. It's pretty similar to the ones he used as Robin and it cuts through the vines surrounding her.

Ivy glares at it and caresses the cut ends until they start to sprout. “Is that you, Boy Wonder? I didn’t recognise you in the new suit.”

“The name’s Nightwing now, Ivy.”

She raises an eyebrow, but before she can reply, Kory cuts into their back and forth. “You won’t destroy any more people’s lives, like those people from the conference.” Kory’s hand glows even fiercer. The flowers of the plants around her move towards her as if she's the sun. “You need to wake them all up.”

“Oh, is that your little problem.” Ivy smiles. It isn’t a particularly nice smile. “I barely thought of them as people – they’re all killing our world. Each one is responsible for the loss of a million times the number of plants and life I’ve created here. We’ll be barely able to live on this planet much longer because of people like them.” Ivy cocks her head and a vine of roses wraps itself around her.

“I am sorry for the destruction to your planet, from what I’ve seen it is a beautiful one.” Kory does look sad. “But they are people who deserve to live and change. I am Koriand’r of New Tamaran and my planet was completely destroyed, but our plants were reborn with our people on a new planet.”

Ivy looks interested. She’s also watching the plants as they respond to Kory. There’s something calculating in her expression, the anger fading. And it worries Dick, but he’s going to let this play out. Maybe Kory can get through to her and help those people.

Kory moves her hand, and watches the plant follow it. “We grew beautiful jungles on New Tamaran. They loved our light.” Kory has said more about her planet in the last few moments than she had in all the months he’s known her. There’s a fierce love in her voice, and Dick wonders again how much longer she’ll stay on Earth. “My friend here tells me you are a woman of science. Surely you can find another way, as we did on my planet. I could help.”

“You’d like to help me?" Ivy looks like she's considering it. “I think I could do with some help, especially from someone as strong as you. I have many ideas of the ways that someone who shares my views could aid me.” She walks towards Kory, the vines parting for her. Ivy shrugs. “Those people you were talking about did their little bit to reverse that under my control, but it barely makes up for it. They deserve whatever happens to them, and there’s no way to reverse it.” As she gets within arm's length, she raises a hand, palm upwards towards her mouth.

“Kory, the spores!” Dick cries, as he throws the spare face mask at her. Kory catches it in her non-glowing hand, but it’s too late.

Ivy has blown the cloud of spores into Kory’s face. Kory makes a confused face as she inhales, and then lets the mask drops out of her fingers to the ground. She turns towards Ivy, her face glazed over.

Dick curses. Oh, Christ. It does affect Kory. Why the hell didn’t he insist she wore the mask? He’d have trouble holding his own against one of them, let alone Ivy and an Ivy-controlled-Kory. They're absolutely fucked now. He knows his best bet is to retreat and get help, but he can’t bear to leave Kory under Ivy’s control.

Ivy smiles at him, triumphant.

He pulls his eskrima sticks out and they crackle with electricity. All he has to do is keep moving and not let her tangle him in her vines, and not let Kory get him with a firebolt. Best case he gets close enough to Kory that he might be able to inject her with the antidote. 

Ivy commands, “Koriand’r, take him down.”

Kory looks devotedly at Ivy and starts to gather her power. Dick scans the area as he backs away and plans his escape route. If he goes behind that ruined wall, he’ll have some protection. He tosses a flashbang at them and they dodge it as he runs under the smoke cover.

Kory shoots a firebolt at him, and he dodges. He makes it behind the wall, but they see him and Kory stalks towards him. This is nothing like the one training exercise they’d both participated in. She is starting to glow all over -- her hair, her green eyes, her hands -- and Dick wonders if there's any chance he can avoid this. She’s so close, and he's terrified of her for the first time.

He watches for the tell that signifies that Kory will shoot. He manages to flip away, but he doesn’t think it is fast enough, so he’s anticipating the burn before he lands. But there's nothing. He lands perfectly on both feet and looks up. There’s a burning patch of vines at Ivy’s feet, and Kory is facing Ivy, with one glowing hand extended towards her. The unearthly green of her eyes is cold.

“I don’t think so,” she says crisply. “I'm very much hoping to have sex with Nightwing again, and I won’t be able to do that if you make me kill him.” 

Dick almost laughs in relief. That’s the real Kory, and he can really get behind her reasons. He smiles at her briefly and nods in agreement.

Ivy stands there dumbfounded, but not for long. Her vines start to creep around Dick and Kory’s feet, but Kory blasts them, and they retreat, smouldering. 

“So, we will have to take you down.” She glances over to Dick to see if he’s ready.

“You think you can stop me?" Ivy shouts.

Kory stares her dead in the eyes. “I know we can. Your plants like my light and I can burn them as fast as you can make them. We have spores and seeds, they’ll live again. These people will not. You’re going to come with us and work out what you can do to reverse what you’ve done.”

Ivy glares at them, but her plants stop trying to entangle Dick and Kory. “I’d worked so hard on those plans. They were excellent ideas with a solid scientific basis. The trials had been successful, and I’d pinpointed the right people to introduce them. They might even save the world.”

“They’re good plans, Ivy,” Dick says. “But you could’ve done it some other, less harmful way.”

“No one takes me seriously when I just suggest things.”

Dick sympathises. She’s right about that, but he still doesn’t feel it justifies her actions.

Kory doesn’t seem to feel as sympathetic. “Some of these people are on your side. You tested your plans, but not your spores. Did you even look into the long-term effects of exposure?”

Ivy shrugs. “They don’t care for the long-term effects on my plants, on our atmosphere and water.”

Dick sighs. He goes for a practical approach. “If they fall ill immediately after announcing radical ideas, the ideas themselves will be suspect – the product of delirium. You aren’t doing yourself any favours.”

Ivy just stares at him.

“You are going back to Gotham to fix this," Kory announces. “And then Nightwing and I have our own plans." From her tone of voice, it is very clear that she means sex plans.

Kory sounds very sure of both things. Dick grins internally and takes that as a promise.

As they escort a now subdued Ivy out, Dick points to the bones scattered through the house. “Why did you kill all these people?” He needs to know how much she's changed

“The bones were here when I arrived,” Ivy said. “My plants just brought them to the surface.”

Dick believes her. He shares a relieved glance with Kory. That'll be an interesting cold case to look into.

They take Ivy back to her lab in Gotham, and under Kory’s watchful eye, she synthesises an antidote to the unconsciousness. Dick stays in Gotham overnight. He calls Amy and tells her what he'd put together, that he suspects it's Poison Ivy, and that he's investigating a lead in Gotham with the GCPD. She yells at him for not consulting her, but seems to agree with his reasoning, especially after the antidotes arrive and the victims regain consciousness.

Dick and Kory get a room together that first night, but Dick is so tired he crashes as soon as he gets to the room. He doesn’t have any time to be upset about that, as Kory wakes him the next morning with a kiss. The sleepy morning sex that results is very different to their first time together in the motel, but Dick thinks it's better. They cuddle up together afterwards and talk over the case and Dick's plans to rebuild his close relationship with Rachel when he returns to Detroit. He doesn't know if this thing with Kory will be a long-term thing, but right now she's smiling at him, and he's happy.

end


End file.
